Television systems are available with what is often described as a favorite channel feature. This feature allows a consumer to program some but not all of the channels that the consumer receives through his television system into a special “favorite channel” list. The consumer can then choose to use the traditional channel up and down buttons on the television system to scroll through just those channels selected by the consumer to be on the favorite channel list. Some systems also allow consumers added flexibility, by allowing them to change the order in which the channels appear on the favorite channel list. It is important to note that such television systems as have just been described are not limited to inclusion in television sets, per se, but also have been implemented in other consumer electronics components such as universal remote controls, VCR's, cable boxes, satellite receivers and stand alone electronic television program schedule boxes.
Another feature that is common in television systems is a last channel button. Pressing such a button tunes the television system not to the television currently being viewed but the channel to which the television system was tuned immediately preceding the present channel tuned. Repeated activations of the last channel button will toggle between the last two channels selected using the television system.